huntrule

Windows: Zone.Identifier Alternate Data Stream Deleted by Uncommon Application

Alert on deletion of the Zone.Identifier ADS by an uncommon process on Windows.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
windows
Category
file_delete
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-09-04
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies deletion of the "Zone.Identifier" alternate data stream on a file when the deleting process image is not in a defined set of common browsers and Windows/PowerShell executables. Removing the Zone.Identifier ADS can help attackers reduce the effectiveness of content-marking controls used by applications such as Office. It relies on Windows file deletion telemetry that includes the target filename/path ending with ":Zone.Identifier" and the initiating process image.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1070.004 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Crontab Removal via Command Line (via process_creation)
Suspicious Self-Deletion via Ping Loopback and Del (via process_creation)
Malicious Self-Deletion Via Fsutil SetZeroData
Self-Deletion via Ping Loopback Delay and Del Command
Suspicious Deletion of Explorer RunMRU Values
Suspicious PowerShell Self-Delete Of Executable via Process Creation
Suspicious Prefetch Deletion for Anti-Forensics
Malicious Ransomware Self-Deletion via Ping Loopback and Del
Suspicious Self-Deletion Batch Artifact by JadeProx TriBack Loader (via file_event)
Windows: Zone.Identifier Alternate Data Stream Deleted by Uncommon Application
Pivot detection · T1070.004 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.